Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande has instructed the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and law enforcement to provide his department with an explanation for the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba during the students protests, in Braamfontein, on Wednesday.

Wits students were protesting for access to funding for tertiary education and demanding that the university allow all students, including those with historical debt, to register to study when Ntumba was shot, allegedly by police.

Ntumba is believed to be a patient that was leaving a clinic in the area.

Nzimande also confirmed that Cabinet had recently discussed the matter of the funding shortfall at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

He noted that Cabinet agreed funding should be reprioritised from the budget of the Department of Higher Education and Training to ensure that all deserving NSFAS-qualifying students were able to receive funding for the 2021 academic year.

Further reprioritisation can only be considered as part of the medium term budget process of government, which takes place later this year.

This decision has been taken in the context of funding cuts and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following this decision, NSFAS will be able to release funding, and the registration process at public universities can continue as planned.

“No NSFAS-qualifying students have been affected by these delays, as universities had agreed to extend the registration period to ensure that students without funding decisions would not be prevented from accessing a place that they qualify for,” Nzimande said.

Cabinet also agreed that a comprehensive review of the student funding policy of government is urgently required and has instructed the Department of Higher Education and Training to immediately commence with this work and report back.

Growing student debt in the system will also be considered as part of the policy review.

Nzimande said some of the demands received by government and universities related to the debt of students who may not be funded by NSFAS but who were doing well academically but struggling to register because they had not been able to pay debts.  

He shared that in some instances, universities had made arrangements with such students to sign acknowledgement of debt agreements.

He will be engaging with the university’s leadership teams to explore ways to ensure that final year students who are on track to graduate and are performing well are able to register for their final year through such acknowledgment of debt arrangements.

Nzimande assured students that government was firmly committed to implementing the policy of providing fee free (fully subsidised) higher education support to students from working and poor backgrounds, while also putting a sustainable mechanism in place to support students from the so-called ‘missing middle’ income bracket.

He said NSFAS would now be able to release funds for new students qualifying for NSFAS bursary support.

Continuing students who meet the qualifying criteria have already been allowed to register.

“I appeal to institutions and to NSFAS to ensure that this process is completed as smoothly as possible. I would also like to appeal for calm at our institutions of higher learning,” he said.